High Shoals Falls, South Mountains State Park

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
11/12/2022	2.3 miles	58 minutes	317'	2.3	888.6

Parking: 

• High Shoals Falls, South Mountains State Park, South Mountain Park, Connelly Springs, NC

Maps:

• Gaia GPS app
• Paper maps are available at the visitor center

Directions:

• From the parking lot, follow signs to High Shoals Falls. Return the same way.

Carolina Mountain Club Challenge

• Carolina Mountain Club Waterfall Challenge

We originally had plans to do trail maintenance, but the weather in Hot Springs was pretty iffy. We had a lot of rain yesterday and there was a chance of rain today. Perfect time to visit a waterfall. We headed east to South Mountains State Park, a park we haven't visited before. I didn't have a paper map, but we stopped by the visitor center, and luckily, they had one. We continued to the end of the road where there is a large parking lot for the High Shoals Falls trail. Despite it being large, it was pretty full. 

I opened the trunk and oops - saw that I forgot to bring a leash for Krummholz. Bad, bad me. He's been really antsy all week too. We decided to leave him in the car (with "dog mode" turned on for climate control) and do a very quick hike to the waterfall and back. The weather was gorgeous and the trail with the river next to it was really scenic. It starts out as a wide gravel path, but then becomes a rocky path with wood steps. The loops trail past the falls is the most popular hike in the park. So, there were lots of people and lots of dogs. The hike takes you to a viewing platform where you get plenty of spray from the falls. After yesterday's rain, we knew it would be a good day to visit. The return trip was slower - the stairs were wet, so I was slow and careful. It would have been nice to explore some less crowded trails, but we had a dog waiting for us, so we rushed back. 1 hour hike total, and then drove back home to play lots of frisbee with Krumm.